What's Hot: Very protective, excellent stand and comes in different colors.

What's Not: Bezel cover can get in the way of apps that use the display near the edge.

Case-mate makes quite a few case models for the Apple iPad 2, the iPad 2 Versant Case is the most versatile one. Made with genuine leather, the Versant Case is very protective with thick padding. It has built-in stand that can prop up the tablet in many viewing angles, and a hand strap for gamers or those who need to carry tablet all day use it often. The leather case comes in professional black as well as brighter colors including pink and brown.

Design

The Case-mate Versant Case for iPad 2 is a portfolio style case that?s sturdy and very well built. The iPad 2 case has a tablet holder on the right and a screen cover on the left; and both sides have rigid inserts to protect the tablet from pokes, bumps and other damages while you store it in your travel bag or backpack. On top of the rigid inserts, the Case-mate Versant has a thick layer of padding and a grained genuine leather exterior. The case has microfiber interior that?s soft and won?t scratch your tablet. The tablet holder pocket opens on the left, and it?s easy to put the iPad 2 in or take it out of the pocket. The closure flap for the tablet holder is long enough to fold securely under the iPad 2, so when you prop up the tablet in the stand, the iPad 2 won?t fall out of the holder.

At a glance, the Case-mate Versant Case for iPad 2 seems to have quite a few doodads, but if you use your tablet for watching movies, working with a hardware keyboard, carrying the tablet in one hand all day or gaming, you will need these doodads to help you make your tablet life easier. The Case-mate Versant Case has a nylon strap that can help shut the case securely when you are not using the iPad 2; or secure the front cover to the back cover to get out of your way when you are using the tablet. Another strap, wider than the front strap and reinforced with leather and microfiber lining, comes on the inside of the front cover, and when you fold the case open, you can use this wide strap to hold the tablet in one hand for gaming or working on the tablet while you are walking about.

The Case-mate Versant Case for iPad 2 protects the tablet like a leather suit. And with padding, inserts and built-in stands, the case does add some bulk and presence to the slim iPad 2, and the case weighs 10.2 oz. We like the color choices for this case.

Features

The Case-mate Versant Case for iPad 2 is a functional case with cutouts providing access to all ports and buttons on the tablet. The case has cutouts for the 30-pin connector, the audio jack as well as rear camera hole and speaker grill holes on the back. The top right corner of the iPad 2 is exposed to give you access to the power button, screen lock and volume buttons; and there is a cutout for the top mic as well. The rigid case will likely prevent you using the tablet with docking station or speakers while in the case, but you should have no trouble using any charging/syncing cable or headphones while your iPad 2 is in this case.

The tablet holder covers the bezel around the iPad 2?s display. While it?s nice to know that the bezel is protected, the edges of the cover are too close to the screen and make some apps that use the edge of the iPad 2?s screen a bit harder to touch. The bezel cover has two cutouts for the front camera and the Home button, giving easy access to both.

The pronounced plastic grid piece on the front cover works with two flaps on the back cover to give you a built-in stand for the iPad 2. The stand has a clever design: the stand flaps come in two lengths, and combine them with 6 stand grooves created by the plastic grid piece, your iPad 2 can stand in many viewing angles with this case. The stand is steady when holding the tablet up, and the back stand flaps have magnets so that they stick to the back cover when they are not in use.

Lastly, the Case-mate Versant Case for iPad 2 has magnet closure feature that can turn on the tablet when you open the front cover and shut the screen down when you close it. The magnets aren?t very strong, but are effective enough to keep the heavy cover shut even without using the nylon strap and to active the magnet closure feature working smoothly.

Conclusion

If you are looking for some serious protection for your iPad 2 and need a built-in stand with different viewing angles, give the Case-mate Versant Case a look. It?s a genuine leather case plenty of soft padding and extra soft lining to pamper your tablet. The built-in stand works very well and the hand strap will please those who use their tablet throughout the day and carry it in one hand. The case has nice cutouts to make the tablet very functional in the case. The only minor issue is the front bezel cover gets in the way of some apps that need you to use the edge of the display.